If at first you don't succeed, try new carpet

My husband and I loved our condo. We liked the functional space, two-car garage and fun neighborhood -- not to mention the memories made in our first home together.

Then we tried to sell it.

There's nothing like weekend after weekend of fruitless open houses to give you a condo inferiority complex. Sure, it was a buyers' market. In the Great Chicago Condo Crunch, competition was fierce. The prospective buyers who walked through the door of our 8-year-old condo also were looking at brand new buildings around our 'hood.

We put on our game faces in the form of price reductions and home improvements.

First came the easy stuff -- put all your crap in storage to make the place look bigger. Plant some flowers outside.

Then came the pricier additions. New stainless steel appliances were first. Buyers -- especially first-timers -- are blinded by shiny new stuff. Then came the new carpet. Then the refinished hardwood floors.

By the time the carpet and floor were spruced up, we were happily living in our new house. There are plenty of things I'd rather do than pay two mortgages, but we always knew we'd sell the condo -- eventually. Homes are like people: There's one out there for everyone; it just takes time to find the perfect match.

More than a year later, after many months in our new house, we did. A couple walked through our condo door and saw their new home.